By Saeed Al-Shehabi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – The war in Yemen will complete its seventh year this week and there is no end on the horizon, despite continuous calls to bring the conflict to a close. International anti-war organisations intensify their calls for a ceasefire, knowing that it is a “futile […]
Archives for March 2022
Could Vladimir Putin be ousted over his Ukraine invasion?
Lisa McIntosh Sundstrom, University of British Columbia | – As the Russian invasion of Ukraine grinds on with no apparent solution through international diplomacy, some commentators are wondering if an end of the conflict could come from Vladimir Putin’s removal from power in Russia. Russian troops on the Ukrainian front lines are struggling, prominent Russian […]
Human-Driven Climate Crisis: East Antarctica Ice Shelf collapses for First Time in Human History
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Associated Press reports that the Conger/Glenzer ice shelf in East Antarctica has collapsed. The event was caught on satellite video, and it is the first such collapse known to have occurred on the east coast of Antarctica, which had been thought to be more stable and less affected by […]
No to Blackmail: Germany to be free from Russian oil, coal by end of 2022, Gas by 2024 – Econ Minister
( Clean Energy Wire) – Germany is making considerable progress in weaning itself off fossil fuel imports from Russia and could become virtually independent of the country’s coal and oil by the end of this year, said economy and climate minister Robert Habeck in Berlin. Natural gas supply poses the biggest challenge and it will […]
Time is ticking: Israel’s balancing act in Ukraine is likely to backfire
( Middle East Monitor ) – Israel’s balancing act in the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to falter soon, simply because the resulting NATO-Russia conflict is expected to last for years, not weeks or months. Eventually, Israel would have to make a choice. Alas, whatever that choice may be, Israel will stand to lose. From the […]
Ukraine War Threatens Wheat Supply to Egypt, where a Meal isn’t complete without Bread
Jessica Barnes, University of South Carolina | Russia’s war on Ukraine is disrupting global grain supplies. Restrictions on navigation in the Azov Sea and the closure of ports have interrupted grain shipments from Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, and economic sanctions are complicating purchase agreements. Amid concerns about meeting food needs at home, Ukraine […]
Largest American Wind Farm ever Built all-at-Once Opens in Oklahoma, Saves Customers $1 Billion over Fossil fuels
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – This week, American Electric Power (AEP), which operates in several states, inaugurated what it called the largest wind farm in the US ever built all at once. That is, there are larger wind facilities, but they were actually a congeries of several projects built over many years. The nearly 1 […]
U.S. Sanctions Russia for its Invasion of Ukraine; Now Sanction Israel for its Occupation of Palestine
By Jeff Warner and Yossi Khen | – ( The Markaz Review ) – Russian President Vladimir Putin claims that Ukraine has no right of sovereignty, and used that to justify Russia’s occupation of the Crimea and the Donbas regions, and uses it to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, now in its fourth week. In […]
American Exceptionalism is the Wrong Lens for our Massive Carbon Dioxide Emissions
By Aviva Chomsky | – Three years after the end of World War II, diplomat George Kennan outlined the challenges the country faced this way: “We have about 50% of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3% of its population. In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real […]